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There's not much to add to that but I suppose it should be mentioned that the multiple endings aren't the actual ending. There is only one true ending.
Since you hated every second of it and cheated to get through it it isn't likely to change anything about the game for you.

Did I come across that strong? I didn't mean to imply that I "hated every second of it", just that it was "disappointing". Guilty to cheating, though, as much as I dislike resorting to cheats, the inventory management came close to "hate". Looting every corpse (and there are LOTS of corpses) was a painstaking chore previous to the fix/cheat. How that is enjoyable to anyone is a mystery to me.

Yeah, I agree weight limit thing was a major pain in the ass. Didn't even know there were cheats for SoC; still don't want to know. The fact that it was such a challenging game (I nearly quit several times in the heat of temper tantrums) made it more enjoyable in the long run.

Yep, I totally understand what you're saying, Dia and Koki. The difficulty was challenging and I did have many "I DID IT!" self-congratulatory moments due to the feeling of overcoming unusually (and IMO unreasonably) difficult situations. The game definitely makes you think and consider things more than most FPS or RPG types. I appreciate that, as well as the "radiation" complexities, but I suppose it is merely a matter of "liking" the setting of the game in general. For some reason, the "russian" atmosphere just doesn't appeal to me, and I think this might be the primary reason for my lack of enthusiasm.

Did I come across that strong? I didn't mean to imply that I "hated every second of it", just that it was "disappointing". Guilty to cheating, though, as much as I dislike resorting to cheats, the inventory management came close to "hate". Looting every corpse (and there are LOTS of corpses) was a painstaking chore previous to the fix/cheat. How that is enjoyable to anyone is a mystery to me.

Not meaning to crap on the game, it just wasn't for me I guess.

Yeah, it did have a sort of "I couldn't wait for it to be over. What's wrong with you people?" vibe initially. Never mind, I'm probably over thinking it.

Although I would say a lot of people love extending the weight limit, but real survival guides don't recommend more than 30kgs for the average male of decent fitness covering uneven ground. Certainly no running or fighting involved. The military might push you to 50kg, but not for an extended period. So I think the game was almost too generous in the sort of pack weights it allowed. A Stalker would travel very light indeed.

You've gotten to my point before me though. It isn't that I think the game flawless (the story is a mess. Fascinating, but a mess. Worse if you haven't seen all of it though), but there's a lot of things it does right and many things it does with such different goals to most games it is all but unique. The setting, however, is the star of the show. If the atmosphere and scenario don't grab you from the start I think the game could have a bit of an uphill climb.

One aspect is that there's many things about it that resemble other games and you think you know what you are supposed to (Do this "quest", Collect this item, collect everything!, kill those badguys etc) and there is an actual plot/path to be followed.

But one of the game's flaws is in letting players think that it was just like other games and there's a succession of tasks to succeed or fail at. It didn't make it clear enough that there's a bigger game, one where you stay alive any way you can and you are mostly free to opt in or out of these engagements if you don't feel up to them. Pertinent example: Just because you find some stuff doesn't mean you should carry it. You have to assess its value to you in survival terms. I'm not going to tell you they did a great job implementing some of this stuff (and remember this was a game designed to be the open ended game to end them all, hastily reconfigured into something more linear after years of development), but if you enjoy the atmosphere and see the survival game underneath it is a lot more fun. If you like that sort of thing.

I too would add that, if you haven't given up on desolate settings entirely, Call of Pripyat is quite different in feel in a lot of respects. It's really a very solidly made open world RPG. The mechanics are similar, but they've designed it all to be more manageable.

COP was a much better attempt at an open world rpg fps, you could actually make money and there was more continuity through it, but I think that SoC was the superior game in the long run, the atmospehere, the sense of exploration, danger and discovery was unequaled in any game since in my opinion.
Keep i mind I never finished SoC, only ever got up to the Red Forest and Village levels, but those initial playthroughs were amazing, the game oozes "feel", whatever that is.

also, the mp is very unique, we still play lan games of stalker it has a good mix of camping and run'n'gun style gameplay.

Just because you find some stuff doesn't mean you should carry it. You have to assess its value to you in survival terms. I'm not going to tell you they did a great job implementing some of this stuff (and remember this was a game designed to be the open ended game to end them all, hastily reconfigured into something more linear after years of development), but if you enjoy the atmosphere and see the survival game underneath it is a lot more fun.

Oh drop the survival BS. You don't even need to fucking EAT in vanilla SoC. You're flooded with health items that work instantly. Bleeding generally does absolutely nothing and Radiation can be outhealed with nothing but few Souls or just chugging down bread.

Yeah, but if you play it like a regular FPS/RPG you'll have a tedious time and hate it. Play it like you're exploring and just out for yourself most of the time it makes somewhat more sense. Somewhat.
Ya do keep hearing about people, for instance, running into the Garbage junkyard fight 20 minutes into the game (somehow) and wondering why its hell. Or, because it's hell most of the time anyway, asking how to "pass" it since they keep dying.
You just have to look at it a bit different. The game doesn't help much sometimes it's true, but that's life I guess.